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    Made in Melbourne

    CALL 03 8714 5666 / EMAIL info@papergoround.com.au

     

    Artwork and Print Support

    ARTWORK GUIDELINES & PRINTING ON SEED PAPER

    Seed paper is different to that of standard machine made paper. It’s handmade from recycled content and embedded with seeds. Each sheet is unique and beautifully textured with slight variations in colour, thickness and the placement of seeds.

    We will do a test print of your artwork and email a photo for approval before commencing the full print run. We will also provide recommendations if changes are needed to your artwork. Up to three rounds of changes are included in your order.

    Printing and trimming of seed paper can present some challenges! We encourage you to consider the following guidelines when preparing your artwork. They will help to speed up your order and achieve a beautiful printed seed paper product.

    We have many standard sizes available to purchase directly through our ONLINE SHOPPING CART. If you are after something a little different, please email us for a quote.

    INK COVERAGE

    Ink coverage refers to the amount of ink that is required to print the artwork.

    Printing with low amounts of ink is the most cost effective and best option for printing on seed paper.

    Printing with high amounts of ink on seed paper adds to product pricing.

    LOW INK COVERAGE

    • Allows up to around 50% ink coverage over the printed page.
    • Artwork that is mostly text with simple/small images & logos generally requires low ink coverage.
    • All displayed prices for custom printed products are based on LOW ink requirements.

    HIGH INK COVERAGE

    • Allows for more than 50% ink coverage over the printed page.
    • Artwork that contains large solid areas of ink covering more than half of the seed paper falls into HIGH ink coverage. Printing with large amounts of ink is costly (ink is expensive!) and due to the nature of seed paper, we often have a lot of wastage as the seed paper just doesn’t cope as well when saturated with ink.
    • Seed germination is often reduced when heavily saturating the paper with ink so it’s best to avoid more than 75% ink coverage if possible.
    • If printing on both sides of the seed paper, only one side can have high ink coverage. The reverse side should have low ink coverage.

    GENERAL INK COVERAGE INFORMATION

    • If the product is a folded card, avoid any ink coverage on or near the fold line as some slight cracking of the paper may occur when the card is folded.
    • Less ink also highlights the texture of the paper and allows the seeds to be more visible.
    • Fine white text inside a coloured background may not print well. This is particularly relevant to fonts that contain fine lines.

    PRINTING TO THE EDGES

    We try to keep prices as low as possible with product pricing often based around the amount of cards we can get from a printed sheet of seed paper.

    Keeping your artwork design clear of any edges allows us to use the paper more efficiently – this means less printing/cutting time, and also less wastage.

    If your design prints to the edge (even just one edge!) we need to set up artwork differently. The added 3mm bleed reduces the quantity of products we can fit to each sheet of printed paper. This increases the price per product as extra seed paper is required, cutting and printing time (we print one sheet at a time!) is longer and more waste is created.

    Examples showing low ink coverage with no edge to edge printing.

    Examples showing high ink coverage and/or printing to the edge.

    BORDERS AND PRINTING CLOSE TO THE EDGE

    • Seed paper can move around (1mm to 3mm) when printing and trimming.
    • Vertical, horizontal and center alignment may not always be perfect in the finished product. Any movement will be more noticeable if artwork contains borders or text very to the edge. If printing both sides, we don’t recommend placing a border that follows all edges on the reverse side.
    • Any important images and text should be at least 5mm from the edge so it doesn’t get chopped off during the cutting process.

    The following image shows trim, clearance and bleed areas based on a standard business card – size 90mm x 55mm

    For tags with a hole, remember to keep text 5mm clear of the hole position. We have two standard hole sizes available – 6mm or 3mm. Other sizes may be available if needed. The hole position is flexible but should be located at least 6mm from an edge.

    • Things to consider – for holes not centered (example 3 below) the hole position will be on opposite corner when tag flipped over – keep text clear.

    Examples show 5mm clearance around punched holes (blue area)

    FONTS AND TYPE

    • For text to print clearly on the seed paper we recommend a minimum size of around 7pt. If you require smaller, ensure that it is not a very fine/light font.
    • Small, light coloured or fine text on a dark background may not print well on seed paper – avoid less than 10 pt
    • Font styles that contain thin or fine lines should be avoided as they will not print clearly on the seed paper.
    • Ensure fonts are embedded in supplied PDF’s.
    • Convert text to outlines when providing files for products with die cut lines/guides.
    • Supply font files if you need us to make small text edits to your design.

    COLOUR MATCHING

    • As the seed paper is uncoated and made from recycled content, we are not able to precisely colour match to pantone or other colour matching systems.

    PAPER COLOUR AND THICKNESS

    • The seed paper thickness is between 180 to 200 gsm. As it’s handmade and uncoated, it feels thicker and is suitable for use as business cards, postcards and greeting cards.
    • Due to being made from reycled content, the colour of the paper varies from an off white to a slight cream colour. Seeds and some recycled content are visible in the paper.

    IMAGES

    • Images and photos should be saved or provided at a minimum of 150 dpi. If less, they may look fuzzy once printed.
    • Avoid thumbnail images as reproduction of the fine detail will be lost.
    • Seeds are visible in the paper, if artwork includes photos of a face, keep in mind seeds may hide details such as eyes etc!

    PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS

    The most important part in growing seed paper is to ensure it is watered regularly and not left to dry out.
    Don’t forget to include some planting instructions in your artwork design. Following are some suggestions….

    • This card is made from recycled paper and embedded with Swan River Daisy seeds. Soak card in water until soft. Place card on seed raising mix (in a pot or ground). Lightly cover with more mix, water and keep moist. Germination should take 7 – 21 days.
    • Plant me!  I’m made from recycled paper and embedded with Thyme seeds.
      Soak in water until soft. Place on soil and lightly cover with more soil. Water regularly until seeds sprout.

    FILE FORMATS

    • Artwork must be provided at the correct TRIM SIZE.
    • If your design prints directly to the edge, please include a bleed allowance of 3mm beyond the trim size and crop marks.
    • Remember to extend your artwork into the bleed area.
    • If not printing to any edge, a bleed allowance is not required.
    • If printing both sides, supply each side as a separate page or as individual files.

    Files accepted: Print Ready PDF, Adobe Illustrator

    If artwork is supplied as an Illustrator file:
    • Convert fonts to outlines or supply fonts files.
    • Embed any images/logo’s or provide linked files.
    • Guides or information that is not to be printed must be on separate layers for us to edit.

    * Please note – word or powerpoint files are only accepted for A4 or A5 products. Ensure paper size is set to A4 or A5 size.

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    For detailed quotes, please fill out the form on our contact us page.


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